Midnight Flight
by BritaniaVane
Summary: Finn can't sleep, and neither can Rey, so they decide to throw caution to the wind and go on a little impromptu adventure. Post-TLJ.
1. Midnight Flight

Finn didn't know where they were. He thought it might be better this way.

They weren't out of this yet, and despite the tumult of the past few days, all Finn could think of was the less he knew, the less he could give up, the easier it would be for him to keep the Resistance safe if the First Order found him.

But it wasn't just that. If it was, he'd go mad. Rose had been right, but Finn had felt it all along. Even if they were still running, still hiding, they all had each other now. They had had their last stand, and while they retreated, there would be more to come and the Resistance would be there to meet it, Finn included. Aside from keeping his new friends safe, his new family, Finn just wanted a moment to breathe. And not knowing exactly where they were allowed him a bit of hopeful wonder, if not a lost sort of naïve innocence he never really got to experience growing up.

Listening to people like Rey and Rose made Finn think more about his upbringing than he ever had, thinking back to how everything was a mission, how there was always an objective, some new assignment. Unlike Rey, Finn had never dreamed of what his family might have been like or where they came from, where they would welcome him home should he return. And unlike Rose, Finn never had a family and a home to leave in the first place, a home full of memories to miss. Rey and Rose both had a home, once - Rey dreamed of one while Rose mourned the other. Finn had neither, and part of him felt empty for it, but the sight of a sky full of stars helped put that bit of him at ease.

They were safe for now, as far as General Organa could tell. They were laying low until it was safe to reach out again, to see who might answer their call. A few of the Resistance's remaining soldiers stood watch, looking up at the sky just as Finn did, and around the old ruins they now inhabited. High grasses surrounded them, turning a pale yellow in the fading light and glowing white by nightfall, reflecting the moon and the stars above.

An abandoned planet hopper stood across the field, as if squaring off with the now-resting _Millennium Falcon_. Wherever they were, the landing pads were still intact, though the rest of the place seemed desolate, though quiet. Finn watched the planet hopper, silent and still on the plains without an owner to claim it, wondering if the thing still worked.

"It's called Dantooine, I think," a quiet voice pierced the dark.

Finn spun around, though he already knew who spoke.

" _Rey."_

They had yet to really speak since Starkiller Base, at least now that Finn was conscious again. Rey approached him, a shy smile on her face as she waded through the tall stalks of grass, trying to swallow her expression but finding herself unsuccessful. Finn smiled in full, not keen on hiding it.

He wanted to hug her again, to hold her close, but instead he stood stock still, unsure of what to or what was protocol now that things had settled. Rey walked towards him and stood at his side until they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Dantooine, huh?" Finn asked, his voice quiet and just as shy as hers.

"It's the name of this place. Or the planet, I think. Leia mentioned it," she replied, "She said something about hoping it would save her once, and thought that it might help now."

Rey looked up at the sky and sighed, appearing relieved but restless.

" _Hope_ ," Finn echoed, "Hope is nice."

Rey nodded in agreement, and he could feel a well of words swarming within him and wondered if she felt the same. He had so much to say to her, but he didn't know where to start. Instead, they stood side by side in the quiet.

"I can't sleep," she admitted after a moment.

"Yeah, me neither," Finn added, eyeing her from the corner of his periphery, seeing how the stars reflected in her swirling green-brown eyes.

"I'm sorry," Rey said, suddenly coming to herself and fumbling, making moves to go but clearly unsure whether she should stay, "I didn't know if you wanted to be alone or-"

Finn rested a hand on her arm, steadying her, catching her breath and her attention, as well as his own.

"No, it's okay," he said, feeling the heat crawl up his neck, thankful it wasn't easy to spot him blush, especially under nightfall, "I just- are you okay? What happened out there?"

Rey locked eyes on Finn, her gaze steadfast but her face solemn, "It's hard to explain. And to be honest, I'm not even totally sure _what_ happened, let alone _how_ , or _why_ , or-"

She paused, wrapping her arms around herself, looking into the distance.

"I think I know what you mean," Finn said, joining her in looking out, feeling the cool night air against his skin. He wasn't sure he'd ever just stood and soaked it all in, this whole _living_ thing. And standing here beside Rey, Finn had a feeling that things would be different, and he hoped that they could face whatever came next together.

Their eyes met again, searching for each other in the dark, though they were both careful to look away with a laugh, mingled with nervousness and relief.

"I'm sorry I'm so bad at this," Rey said, suddenly descending until she sat cross-legged in the grass. Finn kneeled next to her, unsure of what to do with his hands.

"Bad at- bad at what exactly?"

Rey considered him, undoubtedly combing through her memories of the last few days and settling on the right words.

"It was hard being alone. It's funny, really, after being alone for so long," she laughed, looking away, coming to the realization only now as she confessed it aloud to Finn, "It was just… _different_ , after you. Without you, I mean."

Finn shook his head, uncertain.

"But what about Luke? What about trying to save-" Finn started, but he couldn't say his name. Rey only shook her head, biting her lip as her expression grew grave.

"It was almost like I wasn't there. I thought I was for a moment but… not as myself. I was a means to an end, not just… _Rey_."

She looked out at the fields, her mind lost in thought, drifting through memory and undoubtedly trying to sort through it.

"I -" Finn nodded, looking back at the Falcon and everyone still on it, "I think I know what you mean."

Finn thought of Rose, still comatose back on the ship, and the way she looked at him the first time as well as when she looked at him after, on Canto Bight and with the First Order, and then again on Crait. He could understand it now, her emotions coming in waves, searching for somewhere to dock, unsure of whether she wanted to be angry or sad without realizing she could rightfully be both. And in thinking of Rose and the sister she lost, the Resistance she watched crumble around them, Finn understood it, too. He knew he was right in trying to save Rey but he knew now why Rose wanted to keep him there. But Rey was here now, despite how complicated everything else may be.

With Rose, he had been both the First Order traitor and the Resistance hero. He could only imagine what it had been like for Rey.

"We don't have to talk about it now, or anything," Finn said, both afraid to hear Rey's side of the story and unenthusiastic about sharing his own.

"Right, right," Rey sighed again, agreeing, hugging her knees to her chest now as she peered out at the landscape over the tall grass and her kneecaps.

Finn allowed himself to settle a bit, to at least sit down. They still faced the planet hopper, parked without an owner in the dark with a canopy of stars above.

"Y'know," Finn mused, still looking up, "I still haven't properly flown anything."

Rey turned to him, her brows furrowed, questioning.

"But what about Crait? I thought you and Rose had-"

"I was winging it, and I what I really mean is I haven't really flown anything without also running for my life."

Finn thought of Poe, and of the _Falcon_ on Jakku as the realization dawned on Rey's face. A moment of contemplation crossed her expression before a smile overwhelmed it, full and mischievous.

"What about that thing?" she said, nodding toward the planet hopper, "What say you and I take it for a spin?"

Finn's mind raced with plenty of reasons to say no - they were still in danger, they could get caught, what if the others didn't know where they were?

But the idea of getting into a cockpit with nothing but adventure as fuel made him feel okay for once. He let the idea steep, and a smirk crossed his face the more he began to like it.

Rey raised her eyebrows as an invitation, a silent _shall we?_ Finn smiled in full and nodded.

They jogged through the grass, trying their best to feel silent, feeling like the children they were never allowed to be - sneaking off and laughing despite the danger, no matter how small or nonexistent. Rey fidgeted with the planet hopper's ramp until it descended into the cool earth, beckoning them onward.

"Wonder who this belonged to?" Finn said, running a hand along the thing's dusty controls once they were inside. Finn felt a flutter, an idea or maybe a memory, an image of this ship when it was still in good shape, when it found use everyday and the same person sat in the pilot's seat come morning to pat it gently at sundown, before another long day.

He blinked the image away, calling it a daydream. Finn needed real sleep, but he couldn't rest just yet. Not now that Rey was here.

The vessel was small, with only enough room for a person or three and a reasonable cargo hold for only transporting equipment planet-side. Rey turned a switch and an unseen exhaust went into full gear, sucking up all the dust and letting the cool of the night air to seep through.

"Seems to be working just fine," she said, examining each button on the dash and pressing a finger to every light that came on with the command of levers and dials. A thrum rumbled beneath them, soothing and soft, and Rey hit the dashboard one more time for good measure, kicking it into high gear.

"Looks like we're in business," she smiled at him. "Y'know, this is my first time, too… sort of."

Finn felt the heat rush back into his face as he fell into the co-pilot's seat, or at least that's what he thought it was. He wasn't certain planet hoppers _needed_ a co-pilot though transports often used a team of more than just one person.

"Wait, what about-?"

There he was again, assuming things, but Rey just chuckled nervously again and interrupted before he could say anything else.

"You're right, but I mean _for fun_. I've never flown for _fun_."

Her eyes lit up as she said it, as if she craved it, and her expression was infectious. Despite everything that had happened since he had decided to abandon the First Order, Finn finally felt himself relax, he felt the excitement swell in his chest, and he knew it then - or at least, he _thought_ he did - that feeling of home, that feeling of quiet comfort and solid ground, of belonging, and feeling lov-

Finn thought of the word but couldn't get himself to think it in full, perhaps out of fear for jinxing it, or because the engines were firing up beneath them as the sky beckoned them onward.

"You want to give it a go?" Rey offered the controls to Finn, "It's real easy, you just-"

Finn shook his head, though still smiling with excitement.

"I'll get us back, okay? You got this round."

Rey bit her lip, though it did nothing to dampen the exhilarated expression on her face.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "Ready?"

"For anything."

* * *

 **Notes:** Written for finnappreciationweek on tumblr. This started as the inspo for the day 2 prompt "flight" but turned out including the prompts for days 3 and 4, "love" and "home" and has developed into a short multi-chapter fic that I imagine will be about three chapters long in total, with some Old Republic mentions in chapters 2 and 3. Any comments are welcome and enjoy :)


	2. Homestead

**Summary** : Finn and Rey find that they have more in common than they think, stumbling on a home forgotten and ruin in the middle of the Dantooine grasslands.

* * *

The planet hopper didn't make it far off the ground, but Rey steadied it high enough that the clouds were below them and all that lay above were stars. Finn's eyes widened, his hands gripping the armrest – not in fear, but in breathtaking awe.

He had never done this, either. He'd not once ever just allowed himself to look and soak in the feeling that came afterwards. With the quiet planet slumbering beneath them, Rey gently guided the hopper forward, careening towards the sky until there were only stars surrounding them.

"I used to dream about this sort of thing," Rey said, her voice wistful as she guided the controls. They were going steadily enough that she didn't need to pay them her full attention now, allowing herself to enjoy the view as Finn did.

Finn tore his gaze away from the twinkling expanse to find Rey completely mesmerized, her face just as full of wonder as it was when they landed on Takodana. Rey seemed so experienced to him, so sure of herself, that he often forgot she hadn't seen much of the galaxy and was more familiar with sand than she was with stars.

"I think I may have taken it for granted," Finn admitted, looking back at the view, "Then again, Stormtrooper helmets aren't exactly augmented for…aesthetic enjoyment. Everything was set to target, either a map or a grid. Nothing ever just what it was."

Rey turned now, a solemn smile crossing her face as she watched him. Finn couldn't help but look back at her, knowing he was being watched, if not affectionately, but Rey did not turn away this time.

"I forget that you were a-" she said, stopping herself before she could say the word _stormtrooper_ , and instead uttered a " _Sorry_."

"Nothing to be sorry about," he assured her, still smiling, happy that they were at least _talking_ with one another. The fact that they were almost all smiles only helped.

"It's just that-" Rey started, pausing as she looked at the view while carefully guiding the ship at the same time, "I forget that you were someone else before. Well, sort of. Does that make sense?"

Finn knew what she meant all too well. Compared to the rest of his life, the last few days had felt longer than anything else he'd ever endured. He was still surprised it hasn't been that long, in actuality. In fact, what day _was it_ , really? Finn wasn't completely sure. And even still, he didn't know what it felt like to be himself, or _who_ he really was in the first place.

"Total sense," he answered. "Sometimes I forget that you-"

Finn wasn't sure exactly what he meant to say, but every thought that bubbled to his lips felt wrong. _That you'd never left Jakku. That you'd never really seen the galaxy. That you'd never-_

He didn't want to belittle her like that, and in a way he knew he wasn't.

"I forget that we're so different," he said after a moment, choosing his words carefully, "That we aren't… I don't know, the same."

Rey's brows knotted, though she didn't look away from the viewport, only glancing at Finn questioningly as she continued to pilot the ship.

"What I mean to say is-"

A blinking light began flashing on the dashboard, a bright green that was almost blinding, and along with it – about three seconds delayed – was an alarmingly loud beeping sound.

"Agh! " Rey struggled with the controls, enabling autopilot while she fidgeted with the rest of the knobs and dials.

When Finn had taken flight on Crait, the adjustments had already been made. All he had to do was steer and know what button to push if he wanted to fire his blaster cannon. Now, he glanced warily at the dash, his hands gripping the armrests in earnest now, putting all of his faith in Rey.

"What is that?" he nearly screamed above the din, the pinging growing louder and louder.

Rey's face scrunched up in annoyance as she practically banged a fist on the lot of the dashboard before the pinging stopped, stilling to an almost pleasant ring.

"I think the tracker's broken," Rey said finally, "Looks like this is a radar? I'm not sure."

Finn leaned over and looked at where Rey's focus was. A small screen in the center of the dash lit up periodically as a bright green dot darted around it. The screen was overlaid with rings, like a radar would have been, but something about it was different.

"Hm, I wonder…" Rey muttered, mostly to herself. She watched the screen but began to adjust the controls, triggering their descent.

"Strange."

The planet hopper emerged from the clouds below and came up on farmland, expanding into the horizon of rolling hills. It was still dark, but the moon and stars reflected on the moist grass and a glittering river, casting the landscape in a ghostly glow.

Rey set them down gently, talking herself through enacting the landing gear as they came upon the ground.

She smiled at Finn.

"First time I've landed properly before, too," she said, grinning now, "I've only managed it in simulations. Well, with a planet hopper, anyway."

"You said that," Finn replied, remembering their flurried conversation after escaping Jakku on the Falcon, "That you'd only ever flown simulations before?"

His voice relayed how impressed he was, or so he thought. Again, he didn't want to sound like he was belittling her, and again Finn was reminded of how little he actually knew about Rey.

She looked at him and nodded.

"I found a simulator years ago. It's how I learned to fly. It's how I-" she stopped herself for a moment, swallowing a thought instead of saying it before continuing, "It's how I passed the time."

She smiled, still, though her expression changed, dissolving from sheer relief to a wondering sort of bittersweet.

"And this is my first time deploying landing gear on the first try!" She announced with a half-hearted laugh, growing pleased. "That part was _never_ in the simulations."

 _Simulations_.

Not even a standard week ago, Finn had completed his final simulation and received his scores from Phasma. He had ranked top in his class, as always, but Phasma always had additional remarks for him, outlining areas where he could stand to improve – namely telling him that his objective mattered more than his squad mates, though to Finn his squad mates were all he had.

At least two thirds of them were gone, now. And Phasma, too. Slip had died on Jakku, his blood marking Finn's helmet before exhaling his final breath, and Nines had been dispatched by Han Solo on Takodana. Finn flinched, eyeing Rey to see if she'd noticed, but she was too preoccupied with setting them down gently.

They had perched back on the grasslands now, rolling hills beyond them and a dilapidated building ahead.

The engine still hummed beneath them but they sat there for a moment, in the quiet, watching.

"Want to see what's out there?" Rey asked quietly, her voice a mere whisper now.

"Sure," he nodded, shrugging off his thoughts, wishing he could just forget. He wasn't FN-2187. He was _Finn_ now.

Rey led the way, exiting the loading ramp and weaving through the grass that met them at the bottom. The grasses were taller here, and not as dry. He figured it was because of the river nearby, the one he saw before landing. Still, he had to part the grass with his hands as he jogged after an eager Rey, careful and keen on keeping up.

He stopped when he saw her, her silhouette black against the backdrop of the dilapidated farm they saw from the air, it's ruin made real the closer they came up on it.

Rey stood still, about a meter or two from the entrance, staring at the barren doors made dark in the nighttime. Before Finn could wonder whether her expression was composed of sadness or curiosity, Finn thought of the village at Tuanul, on Jakku. The huts there would be empty now, and full of ash if not completely disintegrated into the sand.

"Let's see what's inside," Rey said decisively, though her voice was quick, emotion rising in her throat. Finn stood there, watching as her silhouette approached the house, looking for a way in, wondering what it was that made this so urgent all of a sudden.

The doors and windows were barred, they soon found, but Rey was able to finagle the garage controls to allow them access. The durasteel panels ascended into an unseen upper compartment, beckoning them into the dark of the house, clearly long abandoned.

Inside, the place was pristine, save for the layer of dust that blanketed everything. Food was laid out on the table as if set for a meal that was never eaten, trinkets and tools strewn about as if they had been in use on a particularly busy morning on the farm.

"Why's it all still here?" Finn asked, stepping over the threshold. Rey was already in the small kitchen, admiring a pitcher of now long-evaporated water. She upended the container, as if hoping to find an answer at the bottom of it.

"Why would they leave?" she asked, either ignoring Finn's question or simply adding onto it, "What happened?"

She crossed the kitchen and ducked into a small nook in the wall, a datapad made small for a child's hands sitting idly on the seat. She picked it up and shook it, the screen crinkling to life for a moment but fading before powering off. Rey frowned and looked at Finn, her eyes wide and solemn.

" _Rey_ ," Finn started, but Rey had already moved onto the living quarters.

The scene was much the same, though the items left abandoned were different – a pair of work boots left haphazardly in front of the couch, a jacket thrown over a chair, a droid slumped in the corner.

Rey rushed over to the thing, fidgeting with its parts to see if it might work. She plucked at knobs and nudged switches but the droid remained lifeless. Without another word, Rey started taking the thing apart.

"Um, Rey?" Finn approached her slowly, wondering what had come over her all of a sudden.

She paused, looking at him, eyes wide. And then… she laughed.

" _Wow_ ," she said, finally sighing as she sunk into the couch, a cloud of dust billowing around her slender form. "Old habits, and all."

She played with the metal bits in her hand, turning them over in her slender fingers.

"I guess I never really told you about my life on Jakku, have I?" she asked as she settled into her seat, placing the droid parts beside her. Finn joined her nearby, careful to leave some space between them even if the last thing Finn wanted was to feel alone, though he figured Rey may have very well felt the same given her behavior.

"No, no you haven't," Finn replied, his voice soft, watching her hesitantly, careful to be patient.

Rey shuffled her feet, looking away from Finn and instead choosing to watch the clouds of dust erupt at her boots, illuminated in the moonlight filtering through a gap in the window.

"I don't know how long I was on Jakku,exactly," she said, her voice quiet and measured, "But it was a long time. I started counting one day, when I was maybe eight? I can't be sure. I'd almost made it to four thousand days until you showed up at Niima Outpost. So, I think that makes me…?"

Rey counted on her fingers, and mumbled some calculations to herself.

"Almost twenty? I think?"

"I've been in rotation for 23 standard years, but-" Finn paused, thinking of how it all worked, "I don't know my actual birth date, or anything. In a way all Stormtroopers share the same one. The first day of every standard year."

"I don't know my name day either," Rey added, looking relieved, "I don't even know when I was dropped off at Niima Outpost. I think "

"I don't know when the First Order found me," Finn added.

He knew there was more to Rey's story, as there was more to his, even if he didn't know it. Did he even want to know it? What would he even find?

Rey looked at him sidelong, relieved again.

"It's nice knowing I'm not alone, even if I was for so long," she said, looking away again. "I used to scavenge for a living. It's all I did. I used to help Unkar Plutt outfit his ships before resale, mostly because he needed small hands for some of the more delicate repairs, to get at the wires and things, but he'd only ever pay me in rations. That's all he ever seemed to have, really."

Finn could almost laugh, but instead he smirked.

"I know all about rations," he said, "It's about all we ate. You ever find Empire rations? We had to resort to those on endurance missions-"

Finn could almost recall them fondly. Phasma would send them out to remote parts of the Outer Rim with the objective of scouting the area and looting the ruins for old remnants of the Empire that preceded them.

"Those were the best, actually," Rey rejoined, a real smile crossing her face now, "Most of them even had a second helping of veg, too."

"I admit, I kind of looked forward to veg bread. Though now that I say it, it sounds kind of, I don't know, sad ?"

Rey laughed in earnest now.

"Veg bread was pretty good," she giggled, "Hardtack was the worst. But freeze dried meat was better, at least the-"

" _Nerf loaf_ ," they both managed to say in unison, laughing in earnest now.

"Ah, nerf loaf was the best!" Finn exclaimed as Rey near doubled over in laughter.

"It was always a good salvage day to either find or get Nerf loaf," Rey snickered, pure enjoyment lighting her eyes as she watched Finn, "But that grey stuff was-"

" _The worst_ , " they both said again, erupting into fits of laughter as they said it.

Finn wiped unexpected tears from his eyes, and he wondered when he had ever laughed this hard before, or if he ever had.

"Who knew," he began, "That we both grew up on the same sad grub."

Rey nodded, still laughing lightly, holding her ribs as if they might burst.

"Nerf loaf was the best though, until I'd tried real fruit at Maz Kanata's. Did you have any of that?"

"I feel like I had some but I was too busy to notice," Finn answered, shaking his head, "I was too worried about-"

He stopped.

 _Too worried about lying to you._

Rey paused, too, and laid a hand on his arm, steadying him.

"It's okay," she said, "I know why you said what you did. Or, I think so, anyway."

Finn cocked his head, unsure.

"You do?"

Rey opened her mouth only to close it again, unsure of how to answer. She pursed her lips, thinking.

"Well," she began, "You were trying to run away, weren't you? And it turns out you did help Poe, so what you told BB-8 was true and-" Rey paused and looked at him smiling, "I at least knew you wanted it to be true."

"Well, maybe. _Partially_ ," Finn admitted, "I wanted to leave more than anything, but Poe-"

Poe was so daring, so brave, everything Finn had ever wanted to be. He may have scored best in his class, but he had lacked Poe's easy confidence, his half-cocky stride – not because he thought he was better than anyone but because he was just so sure of himself. Not much different than what he thought of Rey when he first met her, either.

"I don't know," he continued. "I didn't know much about the Resistance but I just – I don't know – I kind of wished I were Poe. I wished I had been as sure of my convictions as he had been, which seemed to be the complete _opposite_ of what I'd-"

Finn couldn't finish, but Rey butted in, regardless.

"What did make you leave?" she asked, quietly now, all mirth dissipating from her face. "You said you weren't going to kill for them anymore. What changed your mind?"

She wasn't grilling him, she wasn't suspicious – Finn could tell Rey was simply curious. She may have seemed sympathetic to the Resistance when he met her, but Rey had just as little of a stake in all this as he had when this had all started. Perhaps they were more alike than he'd initially realized.

"In a way, I think it was something that had always been there," he mused, thinking back on it now, "It was just this _feeling_."

Finn could hardly find the right words, and his face scrunched up as he scrounged around his vocabulary for what he was thinking.

"The thing is, I don't think I ever _changed_ my mind. I think my mind had been made up from the beginning, I just didn't know exactly what it was the First Order did. All we were taught was that it was the right thing, just when it came time to do it, it felt like the exact opposite."

Rey considered him, listening intently, nodding.

"That's sort of how the Force feels," she said, extending a hand and watching her fingers as they made a fist and bloomed open over and over in a loop of motion. "It's hard to describe, but I always knew there was _something_ there. Living on Jakku, you hear a lot of tall tales from travelers, so I'd always had some idea of what the Force was or what the Jedi had been like, and part of me liked to imagine what it felt like to have that power but I never realized that perhaps it was more than just my imagination."

Rey furrowed her brows as she concentrated on the droid parts sitting between them on the settee, jerking her hand in the air until the metal levitated and floated gently back over to the deactivated droid in the corner. The metal sputtered, spinning in the air, missing the spot where Rey had taken it from and falling to the ground.

She sighed, shoulders slumping.

"I did far better with those rocks," she exhaled. "Anyway-"

Rey stood now, pacing the room, looking about again.

"I always imagined having a home like this. I figure I must have had one, once."

She picked up a few items, admiring them before setting them down again as if she were in a museum or a crime scene, careful not to disrupt the way things were left.

Finn never had a home, at least not one he could remember. Everything he'd ever had belonged to the First Order. Even his identity wasn't his own.

Before Finn could say anything, a rustling startled the quiet. Both Rey and Finn looked at one another, their eyes locking in serious consternation as they remained still, waiting to hear more.

They stood still for a moment, and upon hearing nothing further, Rey reached for the staff at her back as Finn's hand went to the blaster clipped at his hip. They nodded and fell into formation, stalking their way through the house, examining every corner for the source of the noise.

"Anything?" Rey whispered after a while.

Finn shook his head.

"I don't think so. Maybe we should-"

A rustling.

There it was again, only this time the sound clearly came from the garage. The two of them looked in the direction of which they came, and locked eyes again, nodding in unison before retracing their steps to the back entrance. Once they stepped over the threshold, they saw it - a conveyor belt at the edge of the garage inching it way towards a closed window, a basket pushed up against the closed glass. Rey approached it first, examining the mechanism and its workings.

Finn approached, his blaster still at the ready, keeping watch just in case.

"Aha!" Rey said, fidgeting with a panel.

The conveyor belt stopped as the panel door swung open, revealing a radar not unlike the one in the planet hopper.

"I think this was meant for a drop off, or a pick up of sorts," Rey said. "I think it's reading our little hijacked ship."

"This must have been how they transported crops, maybe? Picked up deliveries from town?" Finn offered, taking a closer look.

Rey nodded, but prodded further. In a corner of the inner panel was a slot, and within that slot was a map etched in metal. Rey pulled it out, blowing the dust from its surface. Finn looked over her shoulder, eyes scanning the lines.

"This must be where all the farmsteads were," Finn said, pointing to a universal symbol for grain scattered over several buildings outlined on the diagram, "They still use this symbol in First Order details."

Rey nodded, but her own hands were tracing a symbol etched into the corner of the map, placed in the center of a large, sprawling expanse on the edge of what appeared to be a valley judging by the geographical lines surrounding it. The symbol was circular, resembling two wings outstretched with a sparkling line splitting it down the center, like a twinkling shaft of light.

"The Jedi were here," she whispered, her voice solemn and serious.

Rey looked at Finn over her shoulder, their faces close, an unspoken question on her face.

Finn nodded knowingly, and they headed back off into the night with the map in hand.


	3. Forgotten Ruins

**Summary** : Finn and Rey follow the map to an ancient Jedi stronghold, lost to time and memory.

* * *

"Do you want to take a go this time?" Rey asked as they approached the hopper, her voice quiet and calm on the night air, as if careful not to disturb the landscape despite the thrill of adventure coursing their veins.

Finn considered it, watching the vessel loom into view as they neared. Rey examined the symbol on the map as she awaited a response, and it was her rapt attention to the image's every detail that set Finn's decision for him.

"Sure," he said, almost hesitant, but feeling the confidence take hold as he spoke the word.

Rey glanced at him and smiled before walking up the loading ramp and taking to the co-pilot's chair. She fiddled with the dash controls and played around the with odd looking radar while Finn got himself situated. The controls were not too different from the ship he flew on Crait, and all of the extra gadgets could easily be monitored by Rey if need be, hence the co-pilot's seat.

He laced his fingers around the yoke, feeling the rough leather as his palms grew comfortable with the shape of it. It's weight was comforting, somewhat, but there was no way to know just how sensitive the thing was until they took off. He considered asking Rey how smooth she found the controls, but the look of pure concentration on her face told him otherwise. She had figured out the radar, it seemed, and was playing around with some of the smaller dials and switches that surrounded the thing, looking back to the map in her hand every so often.

Finn smiled, and settled further into his chair, overcome with a confidence he did not know before. He glanced away from Rey and looked to the stars, craning his head so he could see the canopy of stars above the sleeping landscape that surrounded them. It was just as breathtaking as before, if not more so. The quiet calm settled over the grasses, the cool, blue-white light of Dantooine's moon shining down on them as the tall stalks swayed gently in the breeze.

"What is it?" Rey asked, quietly again.

"It's just… quiet," he said, admiring the dark and the soft light, "It's nice for a change."

Rey's expression fell a bit, but she joined him in looking up at the sky nonetheless.

"It was always quiet on Jakku, but I didn't really appreciate it. I don't even think I noticed it after a while."

"It's nice," he said, "Lights out was the only time it would ever be quiet, and even then there were always troopers on duty. We were on a constant rotation, so even when some of us had downtime, there was always someone prepping for their shift."

"Lights out?"

Finn looked at Rey, her brows knotted as she turned from the sky to face him again. She looked so tired, so worn now. Even on Jakku, after what must have already been hours in the sun, she was awake and alert. Her eyes were bright, especially when he told her he was Resistance at first, and even later her face was alight when they congratulated each other on the _Falcon_ after their brief victory against the First Order TIEs. She didn't seem sad now, but a lot had happened. There was so much to process. What happened before she had met up with them, exactly? Where was Luke?

"Finn?"

"Sorry, I was just-" he inhaled, and looked forward again, watching as his fingers curled and unfurled over the yoke, getting himself used to the weight of it in his hands. "Stormtroopers live by a very strict schedule. Lights out was when we slept, or at least, when we were _allotted_ time to sleep."

Every moment was structured as a trooper, there wasn't room for anything else. The First Order wanted it that way. Less chance of their soldiers getting a sense of themselves or thinking too much. It had only been a few days since his escape, give or take, and this was the most Finn had ever thought for himself in his life.

"Strange," Rey said, "But it makes sense, I guess, for a military. I never thought about it, but I had a schedule, too. Up before sunrise, back before sundown. Even the moments in between were rigid, but mostly because of the weather. Didn't want to get swallowed up by the sands."

Rey laughed quietly, a sadness creeping into her voice as she looked away. She coughed purposefully and sat up straight, shaking whatever thoughts plagued her from her mind to focus on the task at hand.

"Ready?" she asked, looking suddenly unsure. Whatever happened with Luke must have taken a lot out of her, and perhaps that was why she wanted to follow the map so badly. Finn thought that finding Luke _meant_ finding the Jedi, but that no longer seemed to be the case.

"Ready," he assured, pocketing his questions for later. He'd let Rey talk in her own time, and he liked the feeling of Rey beside him. It felt something like home, something warm and welcoming, and he wanted it to stay.

Rey smiled this time, and though it appeared forced it did not seem to be for his benefit, but for her own. As if she were trying to convince herself that this was a good idea.

"Okay, now you'll want to-" Rey began, diving into a basic explanation of what Finn was to do next. He couldn't help but watch her, her face changing as she began explaining, her expertise coming through in every word. She was truly in her element, now. Like Poe, Rey seemed made for flying, and Finn was still surprised she had done so little of it before now, judging by the way she spoke.

"What is it?" Rey asked with a pause, smoothing back her hair as her face grew red. "Am I going too fast?"

"No, no," Finn said, laughing now, "Well, _maybe_ a little, but I was just thinking-"

"What?"

Finn almost wanted to say how cute she looked, how her brows raised as she talked a mile a minute and how her energy seemed to spike the moment she thought about flying despite her mood only seconds before.

 _Cute._ It was almost an insult.

"It suits you," he said finally, "Flying. You're a natural."

Rey blushed again but sat smugly in her seat, leaning into the chair's back and sinking into it as she looked away from Finn.

"Really?" she asked after a moment, hardly able to hide her smile.

 _This is better_ , Finn thought. Rey's smile was as radiant as the sky outside, full of stars - if not more so. He knew they'd have to talk _some_ time, but now was not it.

"Really," he pledged, looking ahead himself. "Okay, I'm _really_ ready this time."

Rey laughed again, and went through the instructions, slower this time. Finn did as she said, flipping switches and toggling dials just as Rey said to do so. Rey did her share of the work as she went on, and within moments the planet hopper was humming comfortably beneath them again.

With a gentle pull, Finn lifted them off the ground, reveling in the feeling now that he had the time to. The ascent was almost pleasant, aside from the feeling of his stomach dropping on the first jolt, and it was especially preferable to jumping in a ship and immediately heading the First Order straight on. Now, there was only moonlit fields and miles of grass pin-pricked with trees that dotted the horizon.

Rey told him where to go as she watched the radar in the center console, keeping an eye on the map in her hand all the while. She guided him down toward a valley, the sun only just jutting over the edge of the planet as it threatened morning. Finn could feel his every muscle tensing as he guided the ship toward ground again, careful not to hit anything, and careful not to be _too_ careful. Rey laughed as she guided him, abandoning the co-pilot's chair and mirroring Finn beside him, her hands resting over his as she guided him with a gentle touch. Finn's skin prickled, too afraid to crash to do anything else, and before they knew it, they were safely back down on solid ground.

Rey removed her hands from his, and Finn regretted not relishing in the moment more. He felt himself blush, and imagined Rey did as much, as he enabled the landing gear per her instructions and settled the planet hopper once and for all. The engine stopped thrumming, and they were left to the last dregs of nighttime to explore the area beyond.

"Shall we?" Finn asked, glancing at Rey.

Her hazel eyes scanned the landscape, pupils darting about as they visually excavated the valley before them. After a moment, she came back to herself, and nodded.

"Let's."

Finn felt his hand reach for the small of her back as he ushered her ahead of him out of the cockpit, and Rey obliged, leaning into him slightly before moving onward. He shivered, unsure of himself and what he was doing. But whatever it was, it felt… _natural_. As if it were meant to be this way. He watched Rey carefully, scared that he may have overstepped, but once they were out on the grass, she clung to him, her hand instinctively reaching for his once his boots met grass again.

"Rey?"

She did not respond. Rey stood there, eyes closed, both of her hands clutching Finn's right one. His fingers itched, wondering what to do with them when Rey opened her eyes again.

"I feel something," she said, coming to as if waking from a dream. "Something… old. _Very_ old."

Finn looked around, the landscape now muddled with the first flecks of dawnlight, making everything murky. But despite his eyesight, Finn felt something… saw something? He wasn't sure. But somehow he knew that beyond the ridge before them was… _something_.

Rey did not wait for Finn to respond, instead leading him by the hand now towards the formation. A ridge of moss-covered rock stood before them, the valley on the other side. Rey brought Finn to the edge, and let go of his hand, her fingers lingering before leaving his skin entirely, to get a better look over the side.

"There's a building here," she said, her eyes wide, "There's something beneath us."

Finn joined her, staying close to the ground to get a better look. Sure enough, there was evidence of a wall face in the valley's gorge, and looking at it now it appeared more like a crater than anything nature-made.

"Something happened here," he stated, his voice heavy with the realization, "A long time ago."

Rey leaned close to him, and whispered, "How do you know?"

"There," Finn pointed at a few spots below them, outlining the valley and a few of its features, "A natural valley wouldn't be curved like that. See? It's almost like a circle. Like someone dropped a bomb here."

"Must have been some time ago," Rey added, solemn. "It's so overgrown now. Forgotten."

Finn could only nod. Enough time had passed that a small series of ponds had formed at the base of the crater, and the architectural remains in its climbing sides were now covered in moss, grass, and ivy. This building must have stood on flat ground once, like the farmstead from before. But someone saw to it that this place was destroyed.

"I think we can get in through there," Finn said, noticing a path of rock that sloped down more gradually, a crumbled wall at its base about a kilometer down. "Should be easy enough."

Rey did not protest, and it was only a moment before Finn was reminded of her affinity for climbing. Finn was amazed as he watched her scale the sides of the hangar in Starkiller Base, never once thinking of doing the same himself. And yet it had come so naturally to Rey. It was no wonder she was able to maneuver about the base undetected. It was ingenious.

Finn could almost laugh as he trailed her, noticing that Rey was so eager to explore that she didn't pause to see if Finn was following. He scrambled to catch up in her wake, finding himself smiling. The adventure was back on again.

Dawn crept around them as they descended, Rey lowering herself as if it were a sixth sense while Finn calculated every backwards step. With every advance downward, the rock face brightened slightly, Finn's back growing warmer and warmer with the rising sun. By the time they reached the crumbled wall, Finn had broken into a light sweat, but the cool of early morning swept it away with a calm breeze as they stood side by side, peering into the murky unknown.

In the side of the valley, a wall colored like red clay but most likely something synthetic, sunk into the side of the overgrown moss and ivy that hung from above, a dark veil masking the way, leading into what must have once been the place of Jedi.

Rey looked at the map in her hand, examining the new valley around them and comparing it to the geographical lines on the metal blueprint. Finn looked at the map over her shoulder, realizing that his hunch was right. This place had once stood on even ground, but now it lay in the ruins of its own destruction. _Who did this? Why?_

Rey said nothing, but Finn felt a world of feeling rolling off of her as she shifted her weight from foot to foot by his side. He looked at her sidelong, but knew better than to ask what was wrong - he already knew. Whatever had happened out there with Luke Skywalker had not gone as planned, or perhaps as expected, and though Rey could clearly command the Force, there was something about the Jedi in particular that had her on edge.

Without thinking, Finn extended a hand, merely brushing hers at first, but then he was hooking his pinky around Rey's like an anchor in a silent _I know_.

Rey glanced up at him through her lashes, the tiredness showing on her face despite her determination. Finn nodded at her, assuring her silently that he'd be at her side every step of the way. Rey's expression dissolved from shy appreciativeness to calm resolve, taking a step forward into the darkness that laid before them.

Even though the inner chambers were wreathed in shadow, Finn knew where he was going. The sun was jutting its early head, but its light was still faint on the horizon still, and hardly any of it penetrated the space ahead. Yet with Rey at his side, Finn felt no uncertainty. He could somehow sense where the rock wall ended, where the debris lay beyond, and where a hallway began on the other side, almost as if he'd been here before.

Nevertheless, Finn rummaged in his pockets, pulling out a glowrod when he felt it nudging him in the hip. He shook the small cylinder until its light emerged, like a single star in a miniature galaxy full of nothingness. The halls were dilapidated, but travelable, and a cool breeze kept hitting their faces, gently from the dark, a sign that there was an open space somewhere ahead.

"I wonder when this happened," Rey said, running her hand along one of the walls, watching her fingers as they traced the intricate designs carved into them.

"Maybe we'll find out," Finn said, feeling the cool spot growing closer and closer as they walked on.

They peered into rooms, most blocked off or caved in, some with roots sprouting out of their ceilings, the trees above having long taken refuge in this place and claimed it for the earth. Yet it did not feel intrusive, it felt… peaceful. As if the Jedi might have preferred this over some other alternative, as if they had bequeathed the ruins of this place for the planet to claim in their absence knowing that it would be in good hands.

"It's definitely been a while," Finn said after searching what he could of one of the rooms, spying an ancient protocol droid in pieces in the far corner. It was too far for him to tell, but from his studies he knew the droid had to have been at least a few hundred years old, so it was maybe just as long since this place was in use. "I don't think Vader was the only one to hate the Jedi."

"Vader, or the Emperor," Rey chimed in, knowingly but quiet.

Finn turned to her, curious, cocking his head as if asking her to elaborate.

"Luke told me," she began. "Vader was rumored to have the same power as the Jedi he defeated, but he was taught by another, what Luke called a _Sith_ , someone who trained in the Dark Side of the Force."

"The Dark Side," Finn echoed, thinking of Han as he explained the map to Skywalker on the _Falcon_ \- _the Dark Side, and the Light._

"Lord Vader was manipulated by Emperor Palpatine, tempted to join him by promising that he could teach him to use powers the Jedi feared, powers that would save his family."

"Luke," Finn said, the realization dawning on him as a cold shiver ran down his back, "And General Organa."

He didn't know the whole story, but bits and pieces connected in his mind as his brain reconciled what he knew of the New Republic from his studies as a trooper and what he'd learned in the last few days with the Resistance. Somehow it made sense, but it also didn't. Finn wasn't exactly clear on how Luke and Leia were siblings yet had different names, and while he suddenly felt pity for Vader when he was once taught to revere the man for his harsh tactics, he wondered how Kylo Ren fit into all this, how he somehow twisted his grandfather's anguish into a rallying cry for greatness. From what Rey said, Vader never sought greatness, but perhaps only order. Hux wanted order. Phasma wanted order. But Ren? The man seemed to want anything but.

Despite the questions bubbling in his head, Finn pressed on, watching Rey as they continued exploring.

"What was he like?" Finn finally asked, "What happened?"

Rey stopped in her tracks, fidgeting with her hands as she sought out the right words.

"Lost," she answered, "He was lost. He thought he was alone, but he didn't have to be. At least, I don't think so."

"Wait, are we talking about Luke or Ren?" Finn could feel something wrench at his gut at the realization, knowing that Rey had met more of the Skywalker family than anyone he knew, other than General Organa. At this, Rey laughed, though she didn't seem amused.

"I was talking about Luke, but I believe it applies to… to _Ren_ too, if I think about it."

Rey repeated the name, _Ren_ , whatever that meant. Ever since learning of the man's origins, Finn wondered where the name came from, but then again no name in this family made any sense to him - Organa, Solo, Skywalker. There were so many of them, and each of them different. Not that Finn would know, he had no family to speak of. At least not one that he remembered.

"It's hard to say what happened," Rey said again, picking up the pace, "I'm still trying to figure that out myself."

Finn sighed, nodding.

"One helluva week, huh?" Finn rejoined, eager to lighten the mood.

Rey laughed, a _genuine_ laugh with a smile that met her eyes this time, as she hoisted herself up onto some rocks in their way, turning back to look at Finn, watching him wonderingly.

"You almost sounded like Han, there," she said, the smile and the laugh dissolving, though not completely. "I still can't believe I only knew him for a day. It felt like-"

"Forever?" Finn finished.

Rey continued climbing, but nodded in response.

"Yeah, me too," he said, remembering the man fondly. In an instant, his memory conjured up an image of the man's crooked smile, one that hardly met his indifferent eyes hiding the wealth of feeling bubbling within him. Solo had known Finn. He'd figured him out in a minute and was already on his case the next. But he didn't judge him. He just _knew_. Han had been that person once, a young man caught in a lie he couldn't see himself out of, digging his hold deeper with every word, but meaning only the best just the same. Or at least that was the impression Finn got.

"There's so much I still don't understand," Rey admitted, lending a hand to Finn so he could hoist himself over the debris. "There are so many pieces, and somehow I fit into them but also… not at all."

"I think I know what you mean," Finn said, sitting on the crumbling rock wall instead of climbing over it this time, looking at Rey as he took a breath, "All this Resistance stuff. I still don't really feel like I belong here, even though I agree with everything they say and believe in everything they do. Yet I also feel like I did more than prove myself enough to be trusted, y'know?"

Finn thought of Rose back on the _Falcon,_ how she had admired him but failed to trust him all the same. He knew she meant well. It must have been hard having someone you love not come home, your whole life taken away from you in an instant. Finn could only guess, but he still felt the outsider for it, and there was nothing he could do.

Rey paused as well, watching Finn now. She nodded, not saying a word, knowing. She sighed, picking at her fingernails and rubbing rubble for her palms as she considered how to say what she was thinking.

"I thought I was ready to learn who I really was, but it turns out I knew I already knew it all along. I'm just… _Rey_."

Rey turned now and hoisted herself off the edge of the debris, landing softly on the other side. Finn leaned over the edge and looked down at her.

"You _are_ Rey," he smiled, letting himself down too. "That's enough for me."

"And _you're_ Finn."

"Is that enough for you?" Finn almost meant it as a joke, but he found himself serious as he stood to full height, dusting the light dirt from his pants.

"It's more than enough," Rey said, swallowing a smile, "In fact, it's-"

A splash interrupted Rey's words, and both of their heads shot in the opposite direction. On the other side of the debris wall was another veil of ivy, and beyond that…

They both looked back at each other, eyes wide but eager, before falling into step and slowly approaching the ivy. They each extended a hand, moving the vines aside to let them pass, and Finn felt the air escape his lungs.

" _Wow_ ," Rey whispered, emotion welling in her voice.

On the other side of the ivy was a courtyard, full of life. This place was overgrown, too, but the ceiling had completely fallen in, allowing the sun through, and birds came and went as they pleased. An old fountain stood in the center, a series of large basins stacked on top of one another in an intricate waterfall, pooling at its base. Several of the bowls were full of leaves and algae, but the fountain worked still, housing all matter of wildlife from fish and birds, to storks and foxes that darted around the yard and up and out of the ceiling entrance.

Finn and Rey circled the space, the sun now fully over the horizon and setting the water in the fountain ablaze, shining a warm honeyed gold in the reflection of its rays.

Emotion clawed at Finn's throat, an unspoken sadness eating its way inside him as he suddenly thought of this place as it must have been in another life - Jedi, cloaked and curious, milling about the temple center, speaking to one another, asking questions, masters and apprentices going over lessons as life continued on beyond these walls. Yet the place was not lifeless, not all was lost. An ecosystem had sought to survive here despite the wreckage, and the place and the animals seemed all the better for it.

Before Finn knew it, Rey was out of sight. He was alone in the yard, spinning around in search of her as a nest of young birds cawed at the sky for their mother gone to hunt.

"Rey?" Finn asked, meeting no answer. " _Rey?_ "

Looking around, Finn saw that several branches of halls sprouted out from the central courtyard, some barred but most not. A few were also veiled in ivy, but there was one that was clear. Without thinking, Finn walked toward it, repeating "Rey? Are you in here? Where'd you go?"

" _Over here_!" her voice echoed from everywhere. Finn spun around, in search of the source but unsure of its origin.

From the corner of his eye, there was light. Finn turned to peer into the dark of the hallway only to find it empty.

"Rey?'

A hollow mumble sounded from around the far corner, where the hallway veered right. He wasn't sure what it was or what it said, but it sounded like something humanoid.

"Rey, are you over here?" he called as he turned the corner, but Rey wasn't here either. Instead, at the end of the hall, a mass of glittering blue light hovered in midair, as if it were watching him.

Finn froze. The mass of light hung in the air for a moment, as if making sure that Finn was watching, before dissolving into the wall beside it.

 _It wants me to follow_.

After everything he'd seen and experienced, not just in his life but since he escaped the _Finalizer_ as it hovered in Jakku's orbit, Finn knew it probably wasn't a good idea to trust just anything, yet somehow Finn felt safe, he knew he was meant for this.

For a moment, he saw the hallway, imagining how it curved around and opened up into a large chamber full of light, as if pulling the image from a memory. He blinked and the hallway was dark again, the glittering mass gone.

"Finn?"

Rey was beside him now, a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Are… you alright?"

"I think we need to go this way," he said definitively, squaring his shoulders. He wasn't even sure why he said it, he only knew it to be true. They hadn't come here with any specific ulterior motive other than seeing where the Jedi may have studied once. Maybe they left something behind? Or there was something here they were simply _meant_ to find? Finn couldn't be too sure, but he wanted to find out.

Rey watched him, confused but still at his side. She didn't question him, but instead looked ahead at where his gaze was fixed, her eyes falling on the space where the mass of light had hung in the air only moments before.

"I…" Rey shook her head, surprise spreading over her face as her eyes lit up, "I'm not sure how, but I think you're right. No, I _know_ you're right."

Her voice was soft in its revelation, her hand gripping Finn's upper arm in earnest now. He almost wanted to laugh at her enthusiasm, not to make fun of her but because it was nice to see, but he liked the weight of her hand on his arm and the way she stood so close as she looked on over his shoulder so he said nothing.

"Let's do this," she said, her eyes bright and curious. Finn nodded and led the way.


	4. First Steps

**Summary** : Finn and Rey continue exploring the ruin, only to find that history is repeating itself.

* * *

Finn closed his eyes, following a feeling.

Rey remained at his side, silent but trusting, her hand never leaving his shoulder. Maybe she felt it, too.

Birds chirped in the distance, perhaps from another opening in the ruin not far ahead. Finn could feel the warmth of the sun as it spread over what was left of the walls outside, how it fed the flora and fauna springing to life around them. It was finally morning. The others would be wondering where they were, but somehow Finn knew that all was well. This was meant for them. For _all_ of them. It would all be okay.

He opened his eyes again as he neared the end of the hallway, the sun creeping around its corner just as Finn and Rey approached. On the other side, the hallway curved around and branched out into several paths, just as it did at the courtyard.

Finn paused, Rey watching him all the while. She didn't say anything, but he could feel the knowing smile creep over her lips as she held her words back, at least for now.

A swath of insects with glittering wings flew overhead, zigzagging from the half-dark of the dilapidated structure and up into the open air of Dantooine. A puddle-turned-pond, rich green with algae, stood in the center of the floor, dark grass poking through the duracrete. Despite the state of disrepair, life had refused to leave this place. Every corner was reclaimed, as if the feeling of the Jedi never left. And something was telling Finn to take the path to the right. He had seen the glowing mass move in this direction, though it had been hard to tell what it was he even saw. Still, despite the life thriving around them, Finn felt _something_ coming from this direction. Much like the feeling of being in a room and knowing you weren't alone.

Rey stood patiently, undoubtedly reading the place in her own way. Before Finn tugged her in the right direction, he glanced at her - her eyes were closed, her face peaceful. She trusted him completely.

He could tell that she felt him watching her, for reassurance, but she did not respond. She only inhaled slowly, opening her eyes on the exhale. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she nodded in a silent _let's go._

Finn nodded, obliging.

The path to the right was not an easy one. Ahead of them now lay debris and fallen duracrete, roots sprouting into the spaces above and around them. They parted only to traverse the obstacles in their way, but they remained silent and close all the while.

It was almost as if Finn was given a directive, an order he was meant to follow. Only this one wasn't spoken, something just _felt_ right. All of his simulations with Phasma had been feasible, once. Each mission objective attainable, at first. Every end goal made sense - but killing the miners at the colony on Pressy's Tumble did not, and neither did the slaughter of the villagers at Tuanul on Jakku. And though everything in Finn's training told him that the mass of light was just a trick of the eye, a sign that he had not slept since Force knows when, he felt at peace, he was _okay_ with this. Whatever it was that wanted him to follow, it wasn't an order on pain of death or reconditioning, but more of an invitation, something that could be turned down without repercussion, a choice he could make without guilt or fear, his conscience completely clear.

On the other side of the rubble, a room lay in shadow, a great hall beyond. He paused as Rey caught up to him, stopping in kind.

"Do you… do you _feel_ that?" Finn asked in a whisper, not wishing to disturb the calm, the hair on the back of his neck standing on edge.

Rey nodded, smiling. She gazed up at him, her eyes a bright hazel-green, and in the morning light they were flecked with gold. He watched her, puzzled. The feeling was strange to say the least, and it was somehow familiar and oddly calming at the same time. Whatever it was, if Rey felt it too, did that mean…?

He turned, looking into the empty room. The sun's nudging rays of light barely pierced the dark, but the space did not seem perturbed otherwise. Finn put one foot forward, Rey's hand a warm anchor on his arm, steadying him as he took the first step.

 _These are your first steps…_

The walls were worn and weathered, bits of rock and ivy climbing through the cracks and openings as if in a state of natural repair as it reclaimed the space, blocking the light from view - yet somehow the room _glowed_. Finn walked in further, each step a tentative advance, taking in every inch of the room as slowly as he took every breath.

The walls were lined with datapads, dim in the dark but glowing still, shelves upon shelves stacked to the ceiling with them. Porcelain tiles lined the floor, spiraling outward from a central dias where a lone console stood, its screen dark, vines crawling up its base like veins. A small, makeshift camp was set up beside the console, as if someone made this ancient place a home long ago, but the tent over it had collapsed, dried leaves gathered in the center of the drooping canopy.

Rey left Finn's side and knelt down beside the camp, carefully examining its contents before laying a hand on the abandoned bedroll almost reverently. Finn blinked, his mind taking him elsewhere for a moment - the interior of a cargo transport, large and dark, the sun hot outside; a hotplate and a few dried flowers set on a crate beside a hammock strung up in the corner, a doll made of straw made comfortable at its center; the desert beyond was lonely, and quiet save for the howling winds on the distant dunes. In an instant, the vision vanished, and he knew Rey had a home like this once. A home hoped for in a ruin. She turned to look at him, her eyes large and her brow furrowed. He could feel the sadness, the bittersweet thought of what had once been hers rolling off of her somehow. But this place was not a bad one, if still forgotten. But weren't forgotten things the saddest of all? The things no one remembered?

Finn approached the nearest wall, its inner shelves near crumbling as he reached for a datapad caked in dust. He nudged it out of its spot between two others, careful not to let the whole thing collapse.

Rey stood and returned to his side as he blew the dust off of it, running a finger along its edge for the 'on' switch.

"It's so old," Rey said, running her hand along the other side as Finn fumbled with the thing, "I've never seen one like this before."

Her voice was a whisper, but in the quiet it almost felt loud. Finn nodded, turning the datapad over in his hands, surprised by the weight of it.

"Neither have I," he agreed, "Must be a few centuries old, at least."

Finally, Finn's index finger nudged the right spot and the screen flickered to life. Rey held one side of the screen while Finn the other, their faces close as they awaited what appeared on the display. The ghost of words spirited across the screen, an older dialect of aurabesh appearing before their eager eyes before vanishing again.

"Hm," Rey sighed, "I wonder how long this has all been here."

Finn placed the broken datapad back on the shelf, careful to set it down gently.

"Maybe it's because it's so dark, but with the glow I thought these datapads were all working," Finn mused, picking up another ancient device and shaking it gently, pressing the keys to see if anything happened. "Looks like it's just remnant battery power or something."

The screens of each datapad were different, but each one glowed weakly, making the room appear almost hazy like they had walked into a dream. Some remnant text flickered on the screens of a few of the devices, some permanently seared into them as if branded, leaving behind ghosts of words like order, peace, knowledge as well as names and places, and some things Finn didn't even recognize. Numbers were visible on few of them, either data or otherwise, and the one in Finn's hand now had what appeared to be a date burned into the corner of the display.

"Some of these really are ancient. Here, look at this," he said, bringing the damaged thing over to Rey so she could see for herself. "I don't know about the datapad, but the data itself is from around the birth of the Old Republic. That's almost 30,000 years ago or something… At least, I think that's what this thing says."

Finn brought the thing closer to his face, the better to see with, finding that he was less sure of his discovery than before. He wrinkled his nose, brow furrowed, as he combed through the what history he'd learned in his First Order training. "Or maybe it means something else."

Rey perused the shelf beside him, glancing at the datapad in his hand, looking at the number curiously.

"Is that what that is?" Rey took the datapad from him now, scrutinizing the tiny number in the corner.

"Well, I think so. Or at least… I _thought_ so, but now I'm not so sure-"

But Rey wasn't listening anymore. She laughed a hollow laugh, almost a sigh, and leaned back against the shelf beside them.

"I saw numbers on so many things on Jakku. Mostly vessel IDs, model numbers, you know, stuff like that. But then there were other things, old holovids and records, ship logs and diaries in the wreckage. I never thought about it until now."

"Wait, wait, you don't know what year it is?" Finn asked, incredulous. He didn't want Rey to feel bad, but it was hard to keep the surprise from his voice.

"There are standard years, yes? And marking them would make sense, for historical records and such."

She was absently picking at a spot on her hand now, tears welling in her eyes, but she laughed and blinked them away before turning to Finn again.

"I'm sorry, I-" she paused, pacing the room now, circling the makeshift bed in the center of the room as if it might provide her with an answer. "There's still so much I don't know, it's just strange to think I might have stayed on Jakku _forever_ , never knowing any of it."

"You do know a lot," Finn started, considering walking over to her but thinking against it, "You know Shyriiwook, you know all about machinery, about flying, and however good of a pilot you think Poe is, he's got nothing on your knowledge of ships."

Rey didn't look at him, but a smile spread over her face despite the tears still welling in her eyes, refusing to fall. She leaned her back gently against the console in the center of the room, crossing her arms over her chest as she steadied her breath.

"I guess you're right. There was so many older models in the Sinking Fields. And even more came through Niima Outpost."

Her face remained expressionless, her eyes still far away. Finn didn't see any tears fall, but Rey swiped a hand across her face nonetheless, sniffling slightly as she regained her composure.

"I don't know, after everything that happened I just-" Rey kicked absently at the bedroll, perhaps hoping to relieve some tension, but from the dusty cloth a crystal emerged, catapulting across the room with a ringing _clinkety clink clink… clink_ as it tumbled towards the far wall.

Rey looked at Finn now, her eyes wide. Without speaking, they both turned to follow the thing, to find out whatever it was.

At the back corner of the hall sat a glowing pyramidal crystal, gilded gold at the edges and cerulean blue within. Rey was the one to bend down and put a hand to it, tentatively placing a finger on its surface as if the thing might be hot to the touch. After testing the waters, she gingerly picked up the pyramid and set it in the palm of her hand.

It was slightly larger than Rey's outspread fingers, so Finn reached up to keep it from falling and tumbling back to the ground - but when his fingers touched the smooth, cool surface, the crystal rose into the air, hovering until it was eye level. It paused, gears turning within, then the object whirred and opened like a flower blossoming in a pond. Each inner facet hovered in midair until a white-blue image flickered in the space between each piece, a woman's ghostly face materializing in the shadowed room before them.

"A mentor once told me that a culture's teachings, or the nature of its people, achieve definition through conflict. Only through strife and suffering do they truly find themselves, or they find themselves lacking. She said that the Republic had gone unchallenged for too long, and that it was the Jedi Order that allowed such stagnancy, both in its teachings and the galaxy it protected. So when something sought to corrupt the Republic, it fell, not knowing where its strength truly lay, and the Jedi fell with it. It has happened before, and so it shall happen again, but perhaps if histories are kept true to all and not just the victors, the future can be different, the fates can change - if the Force wills it."

"Who is she?" Rey asked, entranced, but all Finn could do was shake his head. The woman before them was perhaps around Poe's age, still young but certainly experienced, her face marked by both youthful freckles and old scars. Her dark hair was pulled back in a series of intricate braids, each strand beaded with a droplet of gold, every facet twinkling when she moved her head just so. But her eyes were narrow and tired, dark lines beneath them signaling the lack of sleep she'd had or the worry that weighed on her. Yet there was hope there, Finn could feel it. She took a breath before continuing, the holorecord jolting slightly with static before she started speaking again.

"Perhaps the Order can continue, if they intend to learn from their mistakes. But if not, then…"

She paused, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes before looking out at Finn and Rey again, her expression forlorn, and oh so weary.

"Maybe the Jedi _must_ end, and I the last of them."


	5. Ghosts of the Jedi

**Summary** : The archive takes on new life as Finn and Rey explores its contents.

* * *

They stood entranced, rooted to the spot. Finn and Rey's hands remained side-by-side, aloft as if to cradle the hovering crystal as it relayed the final message of a woman who called herself a Jedi Exile. Finn could not take his eyes off the recording, though from his peripheral sight he could tell that Rey's eyes were wide as she took it all in.

But all Finn felt was cold.

"They attacked out of nowhere. There was no instigation, no warning. There was no clear purpose."

The woman spoke of a war Finn had learned of briefly. Her story felt so much like the propaganda he was force-fed as a First Order resented weakness, and so sought to instill a false sense of honor in its recruits, a purpose to fight for. This woman knew that well, but she also knew how dangerous false narratives could be.

"They fought for honor, but there was no honor in this fight. They attacked those who were defenseless out on the Outer Rim, with the intention of drawing Republic attention, of luring them away from their jurisdiction before they would launch their next plan of attack. Mandalorians were not the type to take prisoners, but they changed their mind. They used some for slaughter, the others for slaves, and in the end, the Republic came running."

Although fabricated, it was enough for many of Finn's former compatriots, the people he once longed to call his friends. It made them feel important, as if they were a part of something. But the conflict the woman spoke of, the Mandalorian Wars, was taught to Finn as an example of needless aggression, though still effective. It bled the Republic dry, and it crippled the Jedi Order, making them vulnerable for civil war.

"The galaxy suffered, but the Jedi did nothing. Until there was Revan."

This was something Finn was taught as a soldier - to seek weakness and exploit it, and if it wasn't there, to create it. The Mandalorian assault may have been needless at the onset but it had a larger purpose, or so he was told, and so the Mandalorians were made to believe. With a taskmaster like Hux, the First Order aimed to limit their aggression to absolute necessity. Either way, it sounded like the Exile had seen both sides and found faults everywhere she went. Finn felt very much the same.

"I followed that woman to war, but only I was made to suffer for her crimes. And when the war was over, only I was left to clean up the mess," the woman continued as a somber warning.

Finn wasn't sure how long they stood there, but by the end his jaw was set, his blood hot as it coursed through his veins.

"Finn?" Rey asked through the din, but the Exile was not yet finished speaking.

"Mistakes were made and secrets were kept, and perhaps it was out of an unwillingness to appear vulnerable that made Revan's plan to ultimately preserve the galaxy fall apart, just as it has before and someday will again."

Finn's hand now gripped Rey's like a vice, his fingers interlaced with hers out of an innate need for comfort, to counter the turmoil roiling beneath his skin as they stood there silently, watching on.

"And that is why I must leave Republic Space and find her, to end this, once and for all."

Rey squeezed Finn's hand, her face sympathetic as the holorecording slowly flickered out and the crystal lowered to the ground, clanging against the tile floor like a dropped plate when their hands were no longer there to catch it.

"Finn, are you okay?"

Rey's voice was gentle in its probing as her eyes searched his. He didn't realize just how heavily he was breathing until he tried to match her quiet calm, finding Rey to be the cool and collected one now.

"Maybe there's just a bit more that we need to work out," Finn said, suddenly lowering himself to the floor, almost too weak to stand. "The last few days have been-"

Finn couldn't even finish. He let out a breath, having held it in for far longer than he realized. Rey moved with him, kneeling before him as he sat cross-legged on the floor, gathering himself, her hand still wreathed in his.

"I know," she said, "I don't think either of us were ready."

Rey's thumb moved absently across the back of his hand, the velvet pad of her finger calming him more and more with every stroke. He tried to match his breathing with each caress, finding himself all the more still for it.

"You never did tell me what changed your mind," Rey began, her eyes cast downward, but not for want of avoiding him, "On Takodana, when you told me who you were, where you came from."

"Why I wasn't gonna kill for them," Finn said, his voice feeling hollow with the memory.

Rey squeezed his hand, her expression solemn as she listened intently, waiting.

"I was top of my class, you know," he said after a beat, laughing bitterly, "But I was always docked points, no matter how good my performance was. Phasma would pull me aside and tell me not to care so much, that I was letting my score slip in favor of helping my squadmates, my _friends_. Or at least, maybe I just hoped they had been. I realize that… probably wasn't the case now."

Finn grimaced, thinking of Nines and the way he spat the word _traitor!_ outside the rubble of Maz's cantina, as if it had been his name. Finn never had a nickname like the others, and _traitor_ was the only thing they ever ended up calling him…

"But I went back there, with Rose. I saw them all again, I-" he continued, opening his eyes and looking up at Rey, her gaze earnest as she listened on, "I saw the others I'd trained with, and countless more I'd probably come to know had I stayed with the First Order. But they were all so… so…"

He couldn't find the right words, but he thought of the Exile, he thought of the Mandalorians abandoning their code for the sake of glory, to prove the Republic weak if nothing else. He thought of Slip, as he reached out for Finn one last time on Jakku, perhaps out of desperation, out of surprise that it had to end this way, sorry that he didn't let Finn save him one last time.

"I could have- I dunno… I could have _done_ something. I could have _saved_ them."

Rey's brow furrowed as she cocked her head, ever so slightly, wondering but waiting patiently.

Finn squeezed her hand in return as he found the words, as he sorted through whatever it was he was feeling and made his blood run calm again.

"What if… what if there were more of them, like me?" he asked, thinking of his trembling hands on Jakku, how he froze when Kylo Ren turned to face him when he realized he was the only one left standing, having never fired a single shot, "What if…"

Finn trailed off, his face suddenly wet. He ran his free hand across his cheek to find it streaked with tears. He laughed, knowing exactly how Rey felt earlier now. Everything was happening so fast, and yet he felt like he'd wasted his time, as if there was so much more he could have done.

"You still can," she said, knowing his unspoken words, her voice gentle as her free hand reached for Finn's shoulder as she settled closer to him on the floor of the archive now. "I tried to do the same, with Kylo Ren. I saw something, in the Force. A bright light, a warmth I… I still can't explain."

She smiled now, almost beaming, but her expression was somber still, as if wistful.

"It felt a lot like… a lot like being with _you_ , actually."

Finn paused, turning to Rey now as she settled into the space beside him. A chill ran down his spine, but it wasn't out of fear, and instead inspired by some nice kind of nervousness, a quiet excitement that made him feel almost shy to admit.

"Me?"

Rey nodded, looking nowhere descript, but perhaps lost in a memory.

"We make a good team," she said, still smiling thoughtfully, "But I felt like there was a possible future where that feeling was _everywhere_ , with all of us. With us, with the Resistance, even with-"

Rey couldn't bring herself to say the man's name, so instead she shook her head.

"That door's closed now," she continued, turning to Finn again, "But maybe… maybe it isn't for the rest of them."

"Even if there was _one_ more, one other stormtrooper, another officer, a mechanic-" Finn said, his voice picking up momentum now, "Anyone, _anyone_. It would be worth it. And not just for the sake of the galaxy, or for politics, or anything like that. Just to know that someone else was safe, if they needed it."

And despite everything that had happened, and everything they still had left to do, Finn realized that's how he felt right now, here, with Rey - _safe_.

Finn squeezed Rey's hand again, thankful that she was here, that they were in this place, and suddenly the room grew brighter, as if a second sun were rising in the sky, only this was one was blue instead of yellow. Finn and Rey's heads spun around as they rose to their feet, eyes scanning the room in search of an answer.

"Did the-?"

Finn was at a loss for words as he watched the room take on an ethereal glow, the shelves lighting up one by one as they looked around them, each datapad glimmering like a new star suddenly visible on the horizon.

"Did all the datapads just… turn on?"

Rey's face was priceless - her eyes were wide, her mouth open in awe, the golden flecks in her eyes glimmering a soft silver in the light.

"I think we were meant to come here," Rey said reverently, "I think _you_ were meant to-"

But before she could finish, another crystal fell to the floor - from where, they weren't sure - clinking and clattering its way across the archive, awaiting their attention, just like the first.

Goosebumps ran along Finn's arms, spreading fast across the rest of his skin. He locked eyes with Rey again, sharing an awed, knowing look before running after it.

The second crystal came to a halt at the entrance to the archive, its blue hue glinting in the morning light, more violet than cerulean. Instead of a pyramid, this one was a square, and the hilt was a weathered bronze instead of gold, a couple of its edges chipped at the corners.

Rey paused, watching it, as Finn knelt down to pick it up. He placed a careful finger to its surface, a light glowing from within as he pressed the full pad of his thumb against it. A hum emanated from its base, a soft thrum vibrating against his hand.

He turned to Rey, questioning. All she could do was shrug but nod all the same, encouraging.

Finn shook his head, unsure of what was happening, of where this would lead him - or _all_ of them, for that matter. He looked the cube straight on, as if it were staring back at him, and braced himself before picking it up gingerly in his hand, as if afraid it might be too hot or too cold to the touch, a potential bomb about to go off… and in a way, it was.

As soon as the crystal fell into the crest of its palm, it opened up like the previous one - a flower blossoming, before a series of images flashed and flickered in the space between.

"The data seems, I dunno, corrupted," he said, standing slowly as Rey approached his side again to watch over his shoulder.

Rey placed a gentle hand on his arm, just as she had earlier when they entered the room, and the image stilled as it came into focus.

"-If you're trying to deflect the fire of multiple adversaries, fluid motion, one into the next and into the next, and so on..."

A young man spoke now, his light brown hair framing his face, curling at the ends, smirking before he continued, clearly pleased with himself as he went on.

"I've made some, ah, _adjustments_ to the classic form techniques that I think you'd find work well against droids and other ranged attackers. Here-" he said, reaching for his belt, procuring a lightsaber. "I'll show you."

As his thumb edged the saber on, its plasma blade emerging from the hilt, he smiled, and suddenly Finn knew this seemed familiar somehow.

"Is that…?" he almost couldn't speak as the thoughts processed, rolling around his head as the vague images clicked together like gears in his memory. "Is that the saber from Maz's place?"

"That's Luke's lightsaber," Rey said, her voice a whisper, her eyes wide, "And that - _no_. It can't be-" She paused, an index finger directed at the young man in the image. "That can't be him, but can it be his-?"

Rey shook her head as she knotted her brow.

"Who? Luke?"

Finn had hardly seen any images of the man, during the fall of the Empire or after. The famed Luke Skywalker was surprisingly absent from the First Order's teachings, even when they went over the failings of the Empire as well as what made it strong, the parts Kylo Ren wanted to make great again.

Rey took a step forward, her hand still extended, as if touching the holo would make things clearer. But the image did not react to her being there. The man continued on as he began to demonstrate lightsaber forms, his eyes warm and playful, as if he were trying not to laugh or show off too much. He seemed so young, not much older than he and Rey.

"I think-" Rey began, her voice hitching in the slightest as the realization dawned on her, "I think this is his father. Before he became-"

"Before he became Darth Vader," Finn finished.

His skin went cold again. The short hair on the back of his neck tickled the base of his scalp, sending a shiver down his spine.

"History repeating itself all over again, just as the Exile said."

Rey shook her head, not in disbelief but almost out of worry, as if she were trying to work something out.

"When did this happen?"

"Wh-what do you mean? When did what happen?" Finn asked, turning to her now, the holo still playing as it floated before them.

"The Clone Wars, the fall of the Empire, how many years ago was that?" Rey clarified, her words coming in a rush.

Finn did the math on one hand, already forgetting what year and day it was after being surprised that Rey knew nothing of the dates or the present time.

"The Empire fell thirty years ago, and the Clone Wars maybe fifty-ish? Why?"

"And what about that other war, the one the Exile mentioned?"

"Mandalorian Wars was well over four thousand years ago, and the one she says came before at least 20 or even 50 years before that, depending on who you ask, and-"

"She said that history had repeated itself, and so it would again - unless they remained true to the record, if they _heeded_ it-" Rey was on a thread of thought now that was unspooling faster than she could clue Finn in on. She rummaged around the pack she had around her waist at all times, a place where Finn had seen her procure small tools in their short time together, but this time she pulled out two small books.

"See this?" Rey opened to the first set of pages, flipping slow enough for Finn to catch a glance. "When this was written down, the Jedi Code was already old, and these are _ancient_ -" she flipped through more pages, "It outlines edicts, codes of conduct, rules upon rules and-"

Rey trailed off before moving onto the next book, opening to a diagram artfully drawn in the center, the spine visible from keeping the tome open to that page for extended periods of time, over and over again.

"This is the only example of actual instruction in any of the books Luke had on his island," she said, "Of everything he found, and from what he told me, it sounded as if the Jedi were bound to their rules more than their principles, even from the beginning. Maybe that's what he meant when he said the Jedi needed to end, maybe that's why-"

Rey scanned a few more pages of each tome, looking for the right words to complete her thoughts but came up empty, unsure. She sighed, shoulders slumping before closing each book with finality, setting them on the broken console about to launch into another explanation. But as the weather-worn leather met the cracked glass of the screen, a menu flickered to life on its surface.

The holo continued beside them, but Finn and Rey leaned over in unison, curious.

The screen presented a database, over sixty plus thousand years' worth of information.

"Wait, how is this-?"

 _How is this possible_? Finn thought, his mind reeling. Rey gently moved the ancient books aside, all the better to read the layout.

"This is-" Finn started, almost unable to speak coherently, "This is _incredible._ "

The database was expansive, and it covered more than Finn ever knew possible. The First Order was diligent and thorough, for sure, but this archive was on a whole other level. Finn and Rey took turns scrolling, reading the titles of each file and perusing its contents. Some files were straight text, while others were scanned copies of written papers, ancient and crumbling, some dating back to the Old Republic and others to centuries before that. Somehow, there were also personal journals, logs and other private files on here, too, but to what purpose, Finn wasn't sure. And as to how they got here...

"Some of these are… new," he remarked, looking at the time stamp on some of the more recent files, even if the contents were ancient. "Is this an automated data source?"

"Perhaps," Rey said, her words slow and thoughtful, "Somehow, this all feels so - I don't know - _familiar_?"

"Me too," Finn said, their hands near touching as they alternated navigating the records, "I don't know why but-" Finn paused as he hooked his pinky with Rey's, keeping her there as he looked into her eyes. "It feels right, too."

Rey didn't make a motion to move, and instead she leaned into him and returned his gaze.

"I think we were meant to read all this, I mean _everything_ ," she said, hardly able to contain her excitement despite how soft she was in returning Finn's sentiment, "I think we were meant to make sure that all of this lived on."

"I think you may be right," Finn said, the warmth of Rey's finger beneath his thrumming through his hand, and the warmth of the revived datapads all around them. They'd turned on as Finn thought of Rey, just as the console had responded to Rey the way the rocks moved in her path on Crait. He felt a flicker of hope, a silly wish take root in the pit of his stomach at the thought, not that it was new but was instead an old idea that had simply been forgotten, an explanation for a lot of things, including Finn's own intuition.

And even now, Finn felt a prickle at the back of his mind, either something long forgotten that needed reminding, or someone was standing behind them.

"I think she may be right, too."

Finn and Rey turned to see General Organa in the entryway, her braided hair a halo of silver-brown as she stood in the full glory of morning's light.

"Leia-" Rey said, breaking away from Finn and rushing to her.

"We didn't mean to worry you, we-" Rey began, her words tumbling out of her mouth in a jumble.

"Relax, Rey," General Organa laughed, " _Just relax_."

Leia held up a hand and Rey paused on command, her expression faltering as her concern dissipated. General Organa turned to Finn and smiled knowingly, as if to say, _Should have expected me sooner._

Finn chuckled, almost involuntarily, and Leia's expression flickered as if in surprise.

 _Wait, was she-?_

Finn felt his face flush red, his cheeks suddenly warm. Leia only smiled as she entered the room, laying a careful hand on Rey's shoulder as she walked alongside her.

"I've been looking for this place," she said, contemplative. "I dreamed of it, actually."

She looked about the room, running a hand along the shelves' now-lit datapads, her eye catching the discarded holo-crystal once belonging to the Jedi Exile.

"I thought you'd find it," she continued, bending down to pluck the crystalline pyramid up and into her palm, "Actually, I _knew_ you would."

"But how did you-?" Finn was about to ask, his memories coming back in a rush as he remembered Leia recovering on the _Raddus_ , her skin still cold from the touch of space.

"Rey may have met my brother, most likely the last living expert on the Force, but I think you two may need a refresher course. From someone a lot less cryptic, and probably _way_ too straightforward."

She smiled, a laugh hidden behind her lips as they curled upward. She looked so tired, now, and so… _sad_. Leia promptly sat cross-legged on the abandoned bedroll beneath the data-console, as if it had once been hers, patting the space beside her, beckoning that they join her.

"I think It's time I told you both a story."


	6. A New Hope

It was one thing learning about the fall of the Empire as a First Order initiate, and it was another hearing it from the mouth of Poe, someone who'd grown up on war stories and lived in the world his parents had fought for. But it was something else entirely to hear it from General Leia Organa herself, Princess of the former planet Alderaan, Imperial Senator and Rebel Spy, sister of Jedi Luke Skywalker and the daughter of the Emperor's Right Hand, Darth Vader. But she went on to emphasize the father who raised her, Imperial Senator Bail Organa, whose station she assumed at the young age of 18, and whose death she still mourned with each passing day, the loss of him, her adoptive mother, and Alderaan raw again after what Starkiller Base did just a few days ago.

Did Kylo know? Or was he so swept up in the myth of Vader to realize he was insulting the memory of another grandfather, too?

It was strange to think of General Organa as all of these things at once, and even more than that, yet still just a woman all the same, no different than the rest of them. She truly was a kaleidoscope of a person, having taken on so many titles and been through so much. And here she was, by their side, recounting everything that had happened in spite of everything she'd lost along the way, smiling wryly at them as she recounted every detail.

"I'd say this story might sound better over drinks, but-" she joked good-naturedly, looking around the archive as a knowing look grew in her eye, "I think this place does nicely."

Finn and Rey looked up along with her, as if they might find something new there. The archive seemed _bluer_ now somehow, each datapad glowing in full, every battery now running at capacity.

"I knew he was gone, but-" Leia smiled, her dark eyes sad, "He's here, somehow. I _feel_ it."

"Luke," Rey answered, her voice quiet and knowing. Leia nodded.

Rey nodded in turn, understanding, before shaking her head and slowly returning to her feet to meander the room, thinking.

Finn was full of questions, but he knew now was not the time to ask. He had a vague idea of what had transpired before he woke from his coma, what transpired with Rey and Luke, and what else was happening on Crait before he and Rose had arrived. Somehow, Luke factored into the final fight - he _thought_ he saw a flash of lightsaber light from the base, but he hadn't been sure.

He _still_ wasn't sure, but something told him that they weren't alone now. He could feel a warmth in the room, he'd known it before he and Rey even entered the space, and even once they'd entered. He couldn't say the sprite he saw that lead him here was Luke, but perhaps not something so dissimilar, if that made any sense.

"It may not seem like it," Leia said quietly, placing a warm hand on Finn's arm, speaking to him alone as Rey surveyed the room in thought, "But you and I are a lot alike."

Finn only cocked his head slightly before she elaborated.

"You feel it too, the way I do."

It wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement, and she didn't say it outright but he knew she meant the Force.

"It's a quiet thing, for us. Something at the back of the mind, a feeling. A _strong_ , undeniable thing. Like a truth, something you don't quite remember learning but somehow you know to be indisputably true."

Goosebumps spread along Finn's arms as she spoke, her words resonating within him as he nodded almost involuntarily, more reflex than reaction.

"It'll come easier, in time," she assured, squeezing his arm where her hand laid, "Can't speak for the weirdness, though. That feeling tends to _stick_."

Finn laughed softly, knowing exactly what she meant, thankful for the lightness of her demeanor despite the subject - and everything else.

Leia let go of him, patting him gently before completely moving away, standing again to join Rey. She was standing at the far end of the room now, looking at the pyramidal crystal from earlier as it caught the light in the palm of her hand.

"Is there room on the _Falcon_?" she asked, already eager, " For all of this? I want to-"

Rey paused, laughing despite herself before continuing.

"I want all of us to look through these. I think we should."

Leia was already nodding before Rey finished speaking, nodding sagely as she approached her.

"I think that's exactly why we're here," she said, agreeing, running a ringed finger along the gilded edge of the pyramid in Rey's hand. "Luke may have found this place if he'd kept looking. If he'd not lost hope."

 _Hope_.

She said it as if the word pained her but powered her somehow.

"I think he wanted _me_ to find this place, for us to come here and to-" she smiled, shaking her head, "I'm not sure exactly. Probably _learn_ something. As one does."

"Luke spoke about ending the Jedi, but it seems like the books keep getting all the wrong parts right, and the right parts wrong," Rey said, "I think what he meant was that the Jedi needed to completely start over. Maybe not end entirely but-"

"Start fresh," Finn finished, "Learning from the past, not forgetting it."

Leia looked between Rey and Finn, a glimmer of pride in her gaze as her eyes travelled the space between them.

"If my life has taught me anything, it's that history is doomed to repeat itself if forgotten."

Only now was the pain evident in her words, and it was hard not to know why - the regime she fought so hard to defeat as a young woman had been supported by her own father only to be resurrected by her very son. If anyone knew the danger of things forgotten, stories twisted and skewed, it was General Organa.

"It cannot happen, not again," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Not after all we fought for."

Finn knew Leia meant the Rebellion, her adoptive father, and everyone that perished on Alderaan, but she also meant everyone after - her husband, her brother, and her son that was lost to them completely.

Finn and Rey looked at one another, their gazes locking and within the span of a moment, a thought formed, and somehow Finn knew Rey felt it, too. Neither of them had ever had so much to lose - until now. The thought of losing Rey made Finn's blood run cold, a lump already forming at the back of his throat. Rey's lip twitched, somewhere between a frown and a smile, lingering somewhere bittersweet and wistful, and as Finn gazed eagerly back at her he also sensed the same warmth he felt when their bodies collided again on Crait, the rocks parting so Finn could make his way back to her, and she to him.

 _Home_. This was home, now. And Rey his family, Finn hers. It was all of them now, everyone back on the _Falcon_ , and anyone beyond who might still help, anyone who had hope. They'd all lost so much, but even at the start of it all, Finn and Rey had somehow found each other.

And everything this forgotten archive held - knowledge, history, wisdom, stories long forgotten and people long gone - they were here for them, as they would be always and were meant to be, Finn knew somehow. The archive hummed around them now, full of light and life, as if the room were an engine running, awaiting take-off.

"I'll leave you two to comb the stacks," Leia said, a soft smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. "I'll bring the others around to check out the place, and we'll take what we think we need."

She looked around the room reverently, almost reluctant to leave, as if she were saying goodbye to another old friend. "Poe and the others will want to see this, too."

Finn nodded, suddenly missing Poe terribly and wondering whether Rose was still stable, if she was okay. The Resistance were few, but they were his crew now, his squad, and Finn would do whatever he could to protect them. Maybe Rey was right, maybe it wasn't too late for the other troopers. Maybe their family could grow.

Leia slipped from the room almost as quickly and quietly as she had come, running a hand along the ivy-riddled wall as she disappeared around the corner, and Finn could have sworn the room grew the smallest fraction of a bit darker, a glimmering glow following in her wake as she left. It was as if the room sighed along with her parting, and waited with baited breath for Finn and Rey to dig deeper into its depths.

Without thinking, without saying a word, Finn and Rey closed the distance between them, the crystal still held in Rey's hands as she wrapped her arms around him, her grip tight and Finn's tighter. There were no words, but he knew Rey felt it too. When they pulled apart, their arms still around one another, Finn placed a gentle kiss on Rey's forehead. She smiled, her eyes still closed. Finn felt his cheeks grow hot as he apologized half-heartedly, "Just returning the gesture," he half-whispered, half-spoke against her hair, "BB-8 showed me the recording, when you said goodbye."

Rey opened her eyes as she looked up at Finn, smiling gently but earnestly.

"He recorded that?" she asked, bashful as she blushed.

"I thought it was weird, too, but-" they both laughed, still holding one another in the glow of the archive.

"Shall we get to work?"

"Let's."

They pulled away slowly, the warmth of each other's skin still lingering as they moved to explore what this ancient place had waiting for them, whatever it was, and to whatever end. Finn wondered who brought it all here, and how, but somehow Finn knew it didn't matter. All he knew was that it was here for a reason, and for now that was enough.


End file.
